THE sign Cancer begins the maternal trinity. It is the first of the watery triplicity and the second of the cardinal signs. This sign governs the breast and stomach. It is one of the most sensitive signs of the zodiac, and belonging as it does to the maternal trinity, it
governs all home and domestic affairs in which the feelings play a prominent part.

Persons born in this sign are characterised as being slow but sure. They are best described by the crab, whose tenacity proverbial; this creature moves forward by going backward, and it has come to be looked upon as a sign of retrogression. The main feature, however, of this sign is the power of retentive memory. The Cancer individual has the most remarkable memory of any given by the twelve signs, and it is no difﬁculty for them to recall minute incidents of the past.

Maddow says that she loves having the Massachusetts refuge from her weekday life in New York….HuffPo

This makes them somewhat antiquated, as they love to dwell on past events, or to go over in their memory through past occurrences, and through this they often become some-
what limited and hindered, particularly where attachment to family is prominent in the life. Their highly sensitive nature makes them feel very keenly everything that aﬂ’ects the other members of the family, and for them domestic affairs become a kind of brake
on their own individual progress.

They are rather approbative — love to be approved of, and always yearn for the sympathy of others. They are very timid, reserved, and shy, and fear ridicule or disapproval very much, and this makes them somewhat conventional, with a great dread and fear of public opinion. This binds them to clan or sect and makes them studious of “Caste.”

Rachel Maddow – in her own words a mannish lesbian policy wonk who doesn’t own a television set – is not your average anchorwoman in America, or indeed on this side of the Atlantic. …The Guardian

When fully individualised these persons are remarkable for their imagination
but on the personal side of their life, they become very fanciful, romantic, superstitious, and fond of the unseen. From sensation they work through feeling to the highest emotional, and it is there that they are truly wonderful people. Unfortunately this may carry them into the worst forms of sensationalism; being exceedingly sensitive, their feelings are very easily wounded.

They possess a psychic gift in their feelings, being able easily to feel the impressions around them. They are economical and very fond of saving, a trait that runs into almost
all the details of their life: fond of saving letters, books, and all kinds of curios. They hoard to a remarkable extent, being fond of all that is antique and connected with age and the past. On the personal level, they tend to be inactive and inclined to be indolent and somewhat grasping.

When fully individualised, these persons possess a great love of power, and once having gained it they have the ability to hold it. They are not so ambitious as they are lovers of fame and public recognition, and they desire this most: world-wide approval. They can rake up from the past things that others have long forgotten.

The irony is, perhaps, that part of her success is exactly because she doesn’t look like all the other cookie-cutter women on television. She is 6ft tall and boyish (so much so that for a radio show stunt she was once persuaded to go out onto the street and ask people to guess what gender she was).

“It’s true. I am an unusual-looking person. Maybe people tell themselves: ‘Well, she isn’t getting by on her looks, for sure. Maybe she’s got something to say.'”…The Guardian

As this sign governs the stomach, this organ will be a sensitive part of the system, and when the personal element is strong, we shall ﬁnd these persons suffering from weak digestion and gastric troubles. They require to be careful in diet, there being a tendency to suffer from indigestion & fermentation in the stomach.

Worry and anxiety with them are frequent causes of indigestion, which produces a defective circulation, and brings in its train’ constipation, congestion, rheumatism and chronic disorders. They are liable to suffer from fancied ailments, and to become hypochondriac.

They are nervous when ailing, and fear the worst results of any functional disorders, and in this respect they become so morbid that they actually produce the illness they imagine themselves suffering from. The cure is a healthy imagination and freedom from all anxiety, especially with regard to domestic aﬂairs.

They make splendid historians, being able to write up the past with a comparative accuracy. As the Aries types would do well as leaders in the military world, as captains, generals, etc., so will the Cancer types do well as naval captains and in all professions connected with the sea. They make excellent midwives…researchers, stewardesses, and succeed best in all matters of a ﬂuctuating and public nature, & in commodities that change hands often,. Career wise, they embrace catering for the masses, and should be engaged in professions in which the general public are largely concerned

In summarising the character of the Cancerian portion of humanity, we may best illustrate the character of this type by observing that tenacity is one of their chief characteristics. They are very reserved and sensitive, sympathetic and tenacious, persistent and impatient, impressionable and emotional.

It is necessary for them to become at times what the world calls selfish so they may protect their individuality, but once this has been attained they are self-possessed, self-reliant and strong characters, in which power becomes the marked feature.

This sign completes the ﬁrst four signs in the zodiac, in which the four triplicities, ﬁre, earth, air and water, co-mingle, as it were; it is symbolic of the ﬁlm or Theosophic auric egg that contains the whole.

A Yod and a Mutable Grand Cross

This article was basically written to demonstrate that Ms. Maddow’s public persona support her Cancer ascendant, but while looking at her chart, I did notice that her yod’s midpoint ended right on her eighth-ninth house cusp: the intersection of religion and politics shown on the chart by the Sun and Mercury conjunct. (see the pink triangle)

The Separatism of the Yod Midpoint

It’s interesting because Ms. Maddow says she “came out” at Stanford, ruled by the Ninth House of higher education, as the ninth house midpoint of the Sun/Mercury dynamic also suggests she has a great need to see herself as part of a “universal whole; ” hence the mistaken idea that she has Aquarian rising. Another striking thing that would allow a mistaken Aquarian rising, is that she is a Bucket emperament type with a Saturn (the Lord of Aquarius) handle that resides in her eleventh house of friends and networking, the natural house of Aquarius.With Saturn found in its own home, that would intensify the Saturnian aspects about her: the dark colouring, the stark & genderless Aquarian appearance. Saturn also plays into her mutable Cosmic Cross, and finally, Ceres are an exact conjunction.

With the Sun/Mercury on the cusp, this makes her vociferous in projecting her ideas, philosophies, but also her fears (being outted in the paper before she told her family) thereby gaining comfort from her inadequacies by sharing them with others.

Many people who have ninth house midpoints in their nod, tend to be “separatists,” feeling that they are different from the world around them and not understanding why, or they react strongly to prejudice either aimed at themselves or towards groups that they are sympathetic towards. An example here is her work at an AIDS crisis center in high school, which she says, allowed her sexuality to first awaken.

The Mutable Grand Cross

The Mutable Grand Cross, outlined in aqua, is made of the Moon to Pluto, a need to upset people’s precognitions, and Ceres to Vesta, a problem between needing to be nourished and wanting to remain aloof and untouched. Ironically, these two asteroids were recently discussed. Click on the links above to learn more about them.

Ceres is found here in her fifth house of Sagittarius, trine her ninth house cusp and encourages her to be the pursuer in love. She does not want to be damsel in distress, as much as the shining knight yearning to save someone & be their hero. That desire though, is caught in the push-pull dynamic of Vesta in Gemini and her wanting to be aloof and be “friends.” Perhaps her part time relationship with Ms. Mikula serves that purpose.